Before and After #63

[theflyingkiwi]

This game is to help those of us who are trying to learn new tricks when it comes to editing.

Here's the breakdown of the game. I will post a picture that I choose, resized to exactly 1024 pixels maximum on the long side. Outside of being resized it has to be unedited...meaning no adjustments to any levels, it has to look like it did as it came out of the camera.

The game will last 48hrs and whoever can produce the best edited image (as judged by me) will be picked and it'll be their turn to post their unedited picture for all of us to take a crack at.

The participants must have their "Image Editing OK" turned on and they must provide at least a simple breakdown of how they edited the image, some entrants are a little vague on this point, please give us all details so we can learn and share tips. For instance if you use the unsharp mask tool or Smart Sharpen, provide us with the adjustments you used so others can try them out.

You can post multiple images, but the first image you post will be the one that is judged - all other images will be considered for knowledge and tip use only.

Also, please keep all comments, be they positive or negative, to yourself until after the game has ended.

If you happen to be the winner of the game please start the next one with the title of the game and the following number. For example…the next game should read (Before and After #64).

This is all about having fun so have at it!!!

this will end on Wedn 11pm PST

http://www.cuthbert.net.nz/potn/b_and_a_63.JPG

[ZeroOne86]

-Tone mapped in Dynamic Photo HDR
-Surface blur on mask on parts of the ship
-Bleach bypass on a mask on the hull of the ship
-Different texture layers on different layer settings and opacities
-Vignette
-Border

[Permagrin]

I processed this two ways and it's taken me a while to decide which one I wanted to post. Decided to go with the B&W

made 3 copies at 1/3 exposure and blended
ran NR
used a tonal contrast filter
and a lighten center filter 2x
then converted to B&W and framed

[suzyb]

I wanted to bring out the color in this one.
So, I started out by increasing the saturation in the blue, red and yellow.
Then added contrast.
Then I use the shadows/highlights tool. Bringing down the highlights really darkened up that white on the boat, so I had to bring that back.
Noise reduction.
USM.
More contrast.
Border.

[BitterSweet]

-sharpened
-tonal contrast filter
-bi-color filter on the sky
-layer of black on softlight and a low opacity to bring out details
-duplicated and used the burn tool on the ship. Lowered the opacity
-darken/lighten center filter
-border.

[Ocron]

I tried to get a sort of dark & gritty (but not too much) getting near sunset look, hopefully I came close. Here's what I did.

- Ran the BHP '300' look action on a copy of the background. Added a layer mask and masked out the whites that were too red, set the blend mode to Color.
- On a copy of the original, made levels and curves adjustements to darken the image, then ran a 40-50-0 USM. Put this layer on top of the 300 layer and set the blend mode to Darken.
- Added a curves layer to add contrast to the clouds.
- Graduated ND filter at 70% opacity, masked out the cockpit area of the boat.
- 2 shadow and highlights layers (1 for each) to balance it out
- There was still too much red so I brought it down with a CEP Remove Color Cast Filter
- I thought it was a little hazy so I applied a 15-50-0 USM. Luminosity blend mode @75% opacity.
- Light vignette (of course) and border.

http://ocron.zenfolio.com/img/v0/p819741210.jpg

[Lee123]

-Thought I would cut out the smoke stack and create a second
-Burned the sky a little
-Added saturation
-Used a little Shadow/Highlight
-Small amount of contrast
-Unsharp Mask
-Crop
-Vignette
-Border

http://coloradomazdaclub.com/forums/uploads/1211602108/gallery_2_166_399880.jpg

[AngryCorgi]

I lost control of what the history was.

Most of the changes are obvious. Some cloning out of all the heavy equipment in the background. Lots of changes to the shadow/higlight strengths in different areas. Custom gradient map. Vignetting and some pincushion to make it seem older/flatter. Darkening of clouds to look evil. Oh yeah, and some custom text.

There you have it: The last known picture before the skipper and his mate and the rest disappeared into the vast ocean...

[theflyingkiwi]

HI guys and gals, sorry I forgot about the closing date.

again the edits have been great and since this is a photo that I have been unable to figure out how to edit myself, you lot have given me something to think about.

the ones I REALLY liked ZeroOne, Permagrin, Suzyb, Bittersweet, AngryCorgi and Ocron. I found these to be really pleasing to the eye.

AngryCorgi & Lee123 get speical menation because of the creative edits. As proven by my last edits in these competitions, I like to edit photos by adding things that arn't there etc.

But I think the winner this time around is AngryCorgi. Even if you didn't make the changes to the photo, I liked the way this edit works. it reminds me of the told time photos of ages ago that have coloured with time. And then yes I like the edit as well. I some how think this boat as surrived the 3 hour tour. :)

[Permagrin]

Congratulations angrycorgi


Suzy, I loved your edit too :)

[BitterSweet]

Congrats AngryCorgi and to everyone else.

[SilverHCIC]

Congrats AngryCorgi and everyone else. ... I cracked up when I saw the S.S. Minnow. ... So where's Gilligan & Mary Ann ?? ;)

[suzyb]

Congrats, Corgi! That made me laugh, too. The weather does look like it's getting rough.

Thanks, Permagrin. :)

[AngryCorgi]

Thanks Kiwi, and great job from everybody. I've really enjoyed watching this thread, even long before I participated. I don't think there is a thread on POTN where I have taken as much useful knowledge as this one.

I apologize for not sneaking Gilligan in sleeping on the deck or something. I wish I had a non-copyrighted image of him or the skipper to chunk in there, but I cam up lame. ;)

It's rare that special framing impresses me, but I love the effect of the border you used this week, Permagrin! Also, Ocron, I loved the angry look of your sky and the accurate reflection of it from the white areas of the boat--- beautifully done!

Gimme a few minutes to look through my files and bring out a good edit for #64.

Gilligan's Island, FTW :lol:

[AngryCorgi]

Oh, this might sound like a totally stupid question, but does anyone know how to extend the available history in CS2? I've been making a lot of saves prior to testing different directions with the images rather than creating tons of duplicate layers so as to keep in-editing confusion to a minimum. Any help or even alternate workaround is very welcome! ;)

[suzyb]

I'm not sure this is what you're talking about, but in CS3, under edit --> preferences --> performance -there's a history & cache box where you can up your number of history states. I'm not sure if it's the same in CS2.

[AngryCorgi]

Ah, hah! It was under edit --> preferences --> general --> history states (default 20). Thanks suzy! ;)

[ZeroOne86]

Congrats AngryCorgi and everyone else. AngryCorgi I'd recommend if you have multiple layers and a lot of them, I'd suggest putting them into groups. That way you can put layers of the same type in one folder, then name that folder for the type of layers it contains. Once you put them in there you can just collapse that folder so you don't to see the layers when messing with other ones. I've found that helps me out the most.

[AngryCorgi]

Congrats AngryCorgi and everyone else. AngryCorgi I'd recommend if you have multiple layers and a lot of them, I'd suggest putting them into groups. That way you can put layers of the same type in one folder, then name that folder for the type of layers it contains. Once you put them in there you can just collapse that folder so you don't to see the layers when messing with other ones. I've found that helps me out the most.

Thanks for the tips, Zero. ;)

[ZeroOne86]

Thanks for the tips, Zero. ;)

Not a problem AngryCorgi :D